Camera modified into stun gun found at school

By eSchool News

May 13th, 2009

A student at a Michigan school district learned to convert a disposable camera into a makeshift stun gun by watching a YouTube video and used the device on his friends at school before officials confiscated it, reports the Detroit Free Press. The device looks like nothing more than a disposable camera, but as Macomb County Sheriff Mark Hackel can attest, it’s far more sinister. The sheriff let out a yelp after shocking himself for reporters as he demonstrated how the camera can release a jolt. “It hurts, I can tell you that,” Hackel said. The device was found May 11 at Dakota High School in Macomb Township, where an 18-year-old student zapped willing friends as a joke. Word got to school administrators, who confronted the student and confiscated the device. Macomb County deputies tracked the device back to a 13-year-old who learned how to make it on YouTube. Hackel said neither student meant to cause real harm. “They thought it was a prank,” he said. “We want to warn kids that this isn’t funny and warn parents that they need to keep a watch on what their kids are doing on the internet.” Both teens could face felony and misdemeanor charges first for having an electronic weapon, then for bringing it near school property, the sheriff said…